Outbound transportation emissions are calculated from our distribution center to where our customer wants us to ship the product. The overwhelming majority of our outbound transportation is dedicated to domestic shipments. Optimizing transportation efficiency (e.g. fuller rather than partial truckloads) is the most important factor for us to consider when reducing our carbon emissions. We would prefer as much of the journey as possible to be by rail; rail can be six times more efficient per ton mile than a truck. But most of our customers depend on delivery via truck.

The choice of truck, rail or plane is often determined by the amount of lead time we have between the shipments of the product and when it needs to arrive at its destination. We have always committed to best practices and pre-planning to avoid shipping by plane instead of by water or by truck and rail. Planes of course are faster, but they generate significantly more emissions.

Although we’re careful when choosing the type of transportation needed and limiting the amount of air freight, look for us to better optimize our transportation modalities as we move forward. With greater lead time, we’ll improve our ability to find the cleanest carriers and most direct routes.